Method of and machine for fitting soles



March 26,1935. s v A'f 1,995,326

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR FITTING SOLES Filed Nov. '7, 1932 ill/Ill IZ X )0 I Patented Mar. 26, 1935 METHOD OF AND Louis Servonnat, Voiron,

France, assignor to.

MACHINE or: FITTING SOLES Ohemin d es Villas, United Shoe Machinery Corporationylaterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationNovember. 7, 1932, Serial No. 641,587 In France November 14, 1931 5 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in methods of fitting soles and to improvementsin sole fitting machines and is herein illustrated with reference to the channeling of orthopedic insoles.

Orthopedic insoles, so-called, commonly have lateral extensions or "wings at opposite sides or sometimes at one side only of their shank portions and in the manufacture of shoeshaving such insoles the extensions or wings are laid back or 1o. molded against the sides of thelasts so that they will serve in the finished shoes to afford supports for the. instep arches of the feet. In channeling such'an insole to prepare itfor attachment to a shoe the channel or channels should extend parallelrto the sole edge around the forepart of) the insole where the insole. hasa normal outline but at the shank portion of the insole the channels, instead of following the outline of the wings, should extend across the base of each wing, following the same course as if the insole was'of normal marginal contour in the shank portion. For this reason it is impracticable to control the movement of an orthopedicihsole past a channeling knife or knives by the engagement of an edge gage with the edge of the insole in the man'- ner customary in channeling normal insoles; in-- asmuch as such a method would result in getting the channel parallel-to the edges of the wings. Accordingly, it has been customary heretofore in some instances to'channel such orthopedic insoles in two separate operations, in one of which the location of the channel at the'forepart of the insole has .been determined by the engagement of an edge gage with the sole edge, and in the other of whichthelooation of the channel along the base of the wing has been gaged by the eye of the operator. In other instances it has'been found practicable to channel an orthopedic insole in a single continuing operation in a channelinglma chine by employing a displaceable edge gage, shifting the gage into an inoperative position at the wing or wings of the insole, andjcontinuing the channeling while guiding the. insole by eye, sometimes with the aid of a line drawn upon .the surface of the insole. 1 l

I One object of the present inventioniis to provide an improved method of channeling .oraother wise fitting orthopedic insoles or insoles having abnormal marginal contours which will insure positive gaging of the locationof the channel :or other fitting at the-wingsior otherportionswhere the sole is abnormal in outline. J

, With this object in View, the invention inone aspect contemplates an improved method 'of fitting soles such, for example, as orthopedic insoles (CI. 12-27) I which are abnormal in the shank portions I but which are normal in other portions and wherein the abnormality consists in the presence of a wing extending laterallyon each side ofthesha'nk be yond the outline of a normal shank, which method preferably consists in'afiix-ing to one side of such a sole a templet having an outline corresponding to that-of 'a normal sole, the normal'portion of the outline of the sole registering with the correspondingp-ortion of the outline of the templet and the opposite lateral edges of the templet extending across the bases of the wings of the sole along lines corresponding tothe' edges of anormal sole shank portion and utilizing the templet in guiding relativemovement between the sole anda chan neling or other sole fittingtool to enable the tool to operate upon the sole along a line determined by the outline of the templet.

As herein exemplified with reference-to the" channeling of orthopedic insoles a-templet is secured-inplace upon an insole with the edge of the forepart of the templet registering with the edge of the forepart of the insolewThe shank portion of the-templet will thenbe jso' positionedtliat its opposite lateral edges extend across-the bases of the wings of the insole along linescorresponding to the edges of a normal insole shank portion.' The insole with the attached templet PATENT may then be' fed past the channeling knives of a channeling machine having an edge gage capable of guiding the sole by engagementwith the'edge of the templet, not only during operationsup'on the forepart of the insole but also while the ings of theinsole are being operated upon.

. The present invention, considered in another aspect, and with reference to apreferred embodiment illustrated herein, is concerned also with the provision," incombination with sole fitting means and a work table and means for-feedingto the sole fitting means an orthopedic insole withian attached templet havingan outline corresponding to that of a normal sole and beyond-which extends awing of the insole, of an edge gage having its work engaging surface formed at'the'free extremity of a thin elongated finger, the finger being constructed and arranged to extend betweenj'the extending wing of the insole and the work table to cooperate with the edge of the templet to; guide theinsole as it is being fed. The illustrated edge gage is mounted for adjustment transversely -of the direction of work feed, andmeans is-provided in the illustrated machine for adjusting thegage following the lines of a normal shank. 45;

The invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a channeled orthopedic insole having a templet attached thereto for use in'controlling the channeling operation,the fig ure showingalso an edge gage of improved construction inoperative relation to the'templet;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the insole and templet shown in Fig. 1, the section being taken along the line IIII of Fig. 1- and the figure showing also, in elevation and in operative relation to the work, the edge gage,-the work tab1e, the feed foot, and the channeling knives of a channeling machine of a type suitable-for use in channeling an insole; and f Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the edge gage and its adjusting means, the section being takemalong the line IIIIII of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown at 6 an orthopedic insole having a forepart 8of normal outline anda shank portion 10, of abnormal outline due to the presence ,atboth its inner and outer sides of lateral-extensionsor wings 12 which are adapted to berbent upwardly from the plane of the sole and to lie inside the upper of the shoe to affordsupportior the instep arch of the foot. The insole 6 isshown as having been fitted for attachment to a shoe upper by theprovision of an outer channel 14 and-an inner channel 16. For use in channeling the insole a templet 18 is shown asbeing attached to the grain rside of the insole by means of tacks 20, although any other suitable means of attachment may be employed. 'Ih e-templet 18 has a forepart 22, the outline of which corresponds to that ofthe forepart of theinsole 6, and a shank portion 24, the outline ofwhich-corresponds to that of the shank portion of a normal insole. As shown,:the templet is positioned upon theinsole with the edgeof the forepart of the'templet registering with the edge of the forepart of the insole while the edge of the shank portion of the templet extends along lines spaced inwardly from the edges of the wings and After an insole, has been prepared; by'having the templet secured thereto as above described theyinsole, with the attached .templet, is presented to a channeling machine i n which provisiori is ,made for guiding the; insole byv the engagement of an edge gage with the edge of the templet. As shown in Fig. 2 :ofthe drawing-the machine-is provided with a work table 28, a feed footBO, an inner channeling knife'32,qan outer channeling knife 34, and anjedge gage 36. The feed foot functions in a well-known mannerjto feedthe work (which in this case comprises both the insole and the templet) over the work table 28 and past the knives 32 and 34. In order that it mayrguide the sole by engagement. with the edge f'of the templet the illustrated edge gage 36 is made in the formof anelongated finger which is arrangedto extend in the plane :of the templet,

theth -i'ckness of the gage finger oorrespondingto the thickness of the templetand the length of thegage finger being such as to insure thatthe finger-will extend beneath the wings of. the insole and above the work table in the engagement Wl'thithB edge of the shank portion of the templet.

zsh'own, also, the edge gage finger 36- is car.- ried bya slide-38 which is mounted for movement inlaxlirection transverse to the direction of feed of the sole and the slide 38 is provided with rack teeth 40 adapted to be engaged by means such, ior example, as the segmental gear 42"show-n in Fig. 3 and other suitable manually operated mechanism (not shown) whereby the gage slide 38 may be shifted to adjust the gage 36 while the machine is running and thus to shift the insole relatively to the knives in a direction widthwise of the channels to vary the locationof the channels relatively to the edge of the templet.

In channeling an orthopedic insole in accordance with the improved method of the present invention as herein exemplified, the insole with the templet secured thereto in the relation above specified is laid, templet side down, upon the work table 28 with the edge of the templet at 'oneside of its shank portion against the edge gage 36.

The sole isv then fed across the table by the action of the feed foot so that the margin of the insole is advanced past the knives 32 and 34 which-operate to form the inner and outer chancut across the bases of the wings 12 instead of extending parallel to the edges of the wings. Ob viously, the templet can readily be 'detach'ed'from the sole after the latter has been channeled, it being necessary only topull them apart thus to dislodge the tacks 20 from the insole.

Having described my invention,.what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis:

. 1. That improvement, in methods of fitting soles having outlines which are abnormal in the shankportions but which are normal in the other portions of the soles, and wherein the abnormality consists inthe presence of a wing extending laterally oneach side of the'shank beyond the outline of a normal shank, which consists in laying upon a sole of the type specified a templet having an outline corresponding to that of a normalsole, relatively adjusting the templet and the sole with thenormal portion of the outline of the 'sole registering with the corresponding portionof the outline of the templet and with the opposite lateral edges of the templet extending across the bases of the wings of the sole along lines corresponding to the edges of a normal sole shank portion, securing together the templet and the sole in said position of relative adjustment, and utilizing the templet in guiding relative movement between-the sole and 'a-sole-fitting tool to enable the latter to operate" upon thesole along a linedetermined by the outline of the templet.

2. That improvement in methods of channeling orthopedic insoles which consists in laying upon anorthopedic insole a templet having an outline correspondingto that of a normal insole and relatively adjusting the insolve and the templet with the normal portion of the outline of the insole registering with the corresponding portion of the outline of the templet, securing together the templet and the insole in said position of relativeadjustment, and feeding "the insole, together with the templet, through a channeling machine while utilizing the te'mpletin conjunction with an edge gage to guide the insolve as it is being fed to cause, the channel to extend parallel to the edge work table, means for feeding to said fitting means the orthopedic insole with the attached templet, and an edge gage having its work-engaging surface formed at the free extremity of a thin elongated finger constructedand arranged to extend between said work table and said extending lateral wing at the shank of the insolve to cooperate with the edge of the templet on the insole to guide the insole as it is being fed.

4. In a machine for channeling orthopedic insoles having lateral arch supporting extensions at their shank portions, a channeling knife, a work I face formed at the free extre table, a templet having the outline of a normal insole and having a flat surface adapted for attachment to a face of an orthopedic insole with a lateral wing of the insole extending beyond the edge of the templet, said templet having also an oppositely disposed surface adapted to engage said work table, means for feeding to the said knife the orthopedic insole with the attached templet, an edge gage having its work-engaging surty of a thin of the insole and with the tion of the templet spaced inwardly from the.

elongated finger constructed and arranged to extend between said work table and said extending lateral wing at the shank of the insole to cooperate with the edge of the templet to guide the insole as it is being fed, and means for adjusting the edge gage transversely of the line of feed of the insole to vary the location of the channel widthwise relatively to the edge of the templet.

5. Ina machine for channeling orthopedic insoles having lateral arch supporting extensions in their shank portions, awork table, a templet having an outline corresponding to that of a normal insoleand adapted to be secured to the face of the insole with the edge of templet registering with the edge of the forepart edge of the shank-poredges of the lateral extensions of the insole, a channeling knife, means for feeding the insole and the templet to the knife, and an edge gage having its work-engaging surface formed at the extremity of a finger elongated in a plane parallel to the face of the work table, the thickness of said finger corresponding to the thickness of the templet and the-fingerbeing'adapted to extend into the narrow space between the work table and the lateral extension of the insole where the latter is spaced away from the work table by the templet to enable the edge gage to engage the edge of the shank portion of the templet to guide the insole as it is being fed.

LOUIS SERVONNAT. 1

the forepart of the 

